As a larger portion of Americans speak multiple languages than ever before, there is an alarming decrease in multilingual pursuits by students on college campuses across the nation. Amidst the implementation of ongoing mass deportations and racial profiling initiatives by the Trump administration, “learning languages serves as a small but effective tool in order to push back against authoritarian efforts to make our nation less diverse,” Alex Benach PO‘28 writes. Benach wants students to take personal responsibility in realizing the inclusive and diverse vision of America that many claim to value deeply by learning languages other than their native tongue in order to foster a better understanding of the diverse perspectives around them.
Tag: Language
Claremont Mosaic: Monique Saigal-Escudero: How her grandmother’s courageous act saved her from the Nazis
Born in Paris, France in 1938, Monique Saigal-Escudero is an Emerita Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Pomona College. At just three years old, during the peak of Hitler’s reign in Europe, her grandmother threw her on a train headed for a small city in Southwestern France: an act that ultimately saved her life. Her passion for storytelling would soon bring her back to this history, and once again place her grandmother’s courageousness front and center in her life.
In between languages: Su Yeong Kim on language brokering in immigrant families
On Feb. 18, Dr. Su Yeong Kim, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, discussed her hopes for the future of language brokering among children in immigrant families. Scripps Presents hosted Kim for the Marion Jane Memorial Lecture.
Lost in Translation: Women & the language of liberation
In the wake of the presidential election, Claire Welch SC ’27 discusses the politics of language. Making references to the witches of 1970s Italy and a secret language in Hunan, Welch posits language as a tool towards liberation.
Lost in Translation: Wolf hats and word fumbles
Columnist Claire Welch SC ’27 has been giving weekly Chinese language lessons to a class of 34 curious kids. But, facing blank stares, Welch has started to wonder what she’s really teaching—and what she’s learning. Reflecting on her own journey from Nepal to California, Welch discovers that confusion and curiosity might just be a pathway to a new “vision of life.”
Lost in Translation: Searching for meaning in dead languages
Medieval Latin and Ancient Greek may be dead, but they’re far from forgotten. In this edition of Lost in Translation, Claire Welch SC ’27 explores why students are captivated by these ancient languages.
OPINION: Y/our language speaks us out of existence.
Luke Brown, PO ‘26 explores the work of being queer and nonbinary through the weight of culpability in our language and the construct of those around us. Our pronoun use particularly demonstrates y/our own anti-queer culpability. Brown explores how we navigate this space and the sensation of erasure.
Lost in Translation: Embracing the violence of translation
Reflecting on the texts we’ve read in translation at the 5Cs, columnist Claire Welch SC ’27 explores the imperfect nature of literary translation and how it relates to learning new languages.
Notes from Spain: The adjustment period
Every student studying abroad will take at least a few weeks to adjust to their new surroundings. Study abroad columnist Parishi Kanuga CM ’26 writes from Seville, Spain about getting used to culture shock and a relaxed pace of life in her new locale.
Lost in Translation: Why learn a new language at all?
Columnist Claire Welch SC ‘27, a Chinese and Italian Foreign Languages major, writes about linguistic exile, Italian movies and making connections across language barriers.